Better Days
by Dancing Lunar Wolves
Summary: There are times when you can see the best in everything, and just as many that all you can see is the worst. And in those times, one little decision can change the future. Though... not every choice made will lead to a happily ever after. In those cases, it's best to live one day at a time.


Her ears _rang._

Not from the usual ring of a doorbell or her desk phone - the thing was well used and she knew its tone - but this was vastly different. It was loud and unbelievably quiet. White noise, maybe. But it was still enough for her to feel deafened.

Speaking of deafened, when did it become so dark? Last she checked the sun was out.

Judy slowly parted her eyes, the feel of a tired sleeplessness overtook her as she tried, and failed, to do so for the first few seconds. _Come on, Judy, wake up_!

She was used to telling herself to do things like this early morning these days. From her morning routine, waking up Nick, getting the kits to their adoptive grandmother for the day. It was all streamlined and second nature to her by now; mornings were her time to shine. But... it wasn't morning, was it? From the parting of her eyes, she found that, aside from their light sting, it was dark, yet bright.

 _Must be inside somewhere_? she thought, rolling dozens upon dozens of things to do in her head, but finding that each just made her tired... why was she so tired? She was a ready rabbit no matter the time of day. Did she sleep well? Was her sleep interrupted? Did Nick mess with her ears while she slept again?

That was usually comforting, but still.

Forcing the thought out with a huff, she tried to think of something else. She grunted, or so that's what she could barely hear when trying to switch gears. _Was that me?_ she asked, having had enough sleep, but not finding the strength to shake it off.

The doe lifted her head off what she thought was her pillow only to find it more difficult than ever. Not only was it oddly rough, but her head felt like it weighed a ton. And when she tried again, it caused her a severe stitch of pain. Her head _killed._

Blinking at the possibilities of what happened, Judy's vision came as little swirls: speckled and stretched dots of existence around her. All she could really see was that she was facing upward. Did she fall out of her bed or something?

Taking a deep breath - which she would come to find was a lot slower than she wanted - she rolled over... or at least tried to when she felt a sharp pain, dare she say worse than her headache, come from her side.

Figuring out what the cause was, Judy peered downward. With the little strength she could muster, she saw that she was clad in her dress blues. _Odd._ she questioned herself with a silent mutter. She never slept in them, not even at work; Nick did a few times when supposedly researching a case, Bogo was furious.

But what was even stranger was the single dark line that stuck out from the contour of her lithe form. Despite the spots in her vision, slow breathing, and headache, she could see that it was clearly something familiar.

Tilting her head at the foreign object, Judy tried to reach for it, just to fail. Her usually nimble paws felt heavy against her sides. It was as if their task was to hold the sky from falling or to keep the earth from sinking into the endless abyss of the ocean.

 _Okay, what_?

Again, she tried, literally _forcing_ her arm to reach out and grab hold of the thing. She was a cop, and a bunny at that! Curiosity ran through her constantly. And when she finally lifted her paw to the still object, she couldn't find her voice.

It was hot... _hot_ to the touch, and yet somehow... freezing?

Was that- _Rebar?_

The doe's eyes widened a little, she hadn't expected to be laying next to anything like that, but what stunned her was the tint of red on her paw when she looked back at it.

 _Is... is that blood_?!

It didn't take her long in the haze of thoughts to put two and two together. Figuring that she was pushed against the metal, she tried to move her feet, but quickly came to the conclusion that it was an impossible task.

For just a second, a minute instance of a spec of time, a horrible image flashed through her mind.

Panic ensued. And through this panic, the inhibitions of her pain were released. _Everything hurt._

Judy screamed, feeling her lungs take on sputters of breath at a time. She willed her eyes shut, wrenching them tightly as her body felt not like her own. Muscle and tendons, flesh and bone, all arguing against one another as pain ripped through her like never before.

 _NICK!_ Her thoughts screamed through her cries. Where was that fox? Why wasn't he there? What happened to her?!

Memories coursed through Judy's mind as her tears began to form.

' _10-4 dispatch... we see- heading in. Standby-_ '

Was this a call? Who dispatched them? Where were they?

' _I saw them run tow- I'll cut them off. We'll get them this time-_ "

Was there a chase? What happened to them? What happened to Nick?!

 _'-it for backup! They're getting away, I can... JUDY!'_

She tied to draw a breath but found it impossible. A gurgled strain of a whimper was her only plea as she felt her burning lungs give out.

 _No..._ nonononononono _!_

She wanted, _needed_ to scream, but he couldn't. Her breath ran shallow and ragged all while the faint glimmer of red stained what was left of her vision. It all began to blur and fade into black when she felt her paw become lighter.

And to think, _BREATHE_! that this day, _Please... just breathe,_ started off so very, very differently.

 _n-nick..._

* * *

 **[A/N]**

Alright, here's my first story to kick off NaZoWriMo.

Requested by the poll on my DA, I can't believe more people wanted this tragedy more than the others. O.o

Still, there's a few more chapters of this to go, a few new stories in the works, a few requests to fill, and some returning stories as well. I hope you all enjoy. XD

 **[Trivia and Notes]**

This story actually started off as nothing more than an amalgam idea months ago and I honestly thought that it was goin to be in 'Bits and Pieces', but I had no idea where to put it or what to do with it. So, after some tweaking, it's here as its own separate story.

 **[Other Sites]**

fanfiction:  
~dancinglunarwolves

deviantart: [snippet exclusive]  
dancinglunarwolves

archiveofourown:  
users/DancingLunarWolves/works

If you liked this story and have time please post a review, and if you would like to keep up with the story please fav or follow. Questions, comments, concerns, feel free to message me about anything. If you'd like updates, please check the profile page and or message me.

Till Next Time  
 **-DLW**


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